Wire-skinning machine



April 28, 1931. o. c. DuMRcEsE 1,802,462

WIRE SKINNING MACHINE I Filed 0G11. 3l, 1927- 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 28, 1931. o. c. D UMRoEsE 1,802,452

y WIRE SKINNING' MACHINE Filed 0G11. -5l, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 28, 1931. o. DUMROESE 1,802,462

A -WIRE SKINNING MACHINE Filed Oct. 3l, 1927` 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 F 3 l I April 28, 1931- o. c. DUMRoEsE 1,802,462

WIRE SKINNING MACHINE Filed oct. :51, 1927 4 sheets-sheet 4 Patented pr. 28, 1931 UNITED' STATES ParreNT 'OFFICE OTTO CHARLES DUMROESE, OF CICERO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 RESERVE HOLDING COM- PANY, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE WIRE-SKINNING MACHINE Application filed October 31, 1927. Serial No. 229,983.

This invention relates in general to wire Skinning machines and more particularly to such machines which are mechanical in their operations of Skinning wire for use in con- 5 necting together terminals of switch banks.

As is known to those familiar with the construction and manufacture of multipled switch banks, it is necessary that the wire which is used to multiply connect the individual banks be skinned at equal intervals along its length. Heretofore, it `has been the practice to skin the wire either by means of a hand tool or by a burning process, both of which methods are much too slow.

My invention has for its principal object the provision of a machine which will skin wire properly and which will have an output which is many times greater than that of either the hand method or the burning method.

Other objects and features of my inven-` tion together with the main object will be apparent from the explanation which is to follow and from reference to the drawings which comprise Figs. 1-6, inclusive.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the complete Skinning machine assembly, looking from the right side; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the complete assembly, looking from the left side; Fig.' 3 iS a perspective view of the Skinning wheel assembly, Fig. 4 is a side view ofthe skinning wheel assembly; Figs. 5 and are front and rear views, respectively, of the Skinning blade assembly.

Referring now to Figs. l and 2, the construction of the complete machine assembly will be described in detail. The mounting frame is made up of vertical angles 2 held in Xed relation with each other by cross angles 3 and cross bars 4. The frame may be secured rigidly in a vertical position in the best suitable manner. Bolted to the sides of the upright angles near their lower eX- tremities are the horizontal side arms 5 and 6. These arms carry the shaft 7 upon which a spool of wire is carried. rlhis spool carries the wire which is to be skinned.

'Bolted toy the frame near the upper eX- tremity are two horizontal side arms similar mechanism 17, and a drive pulley not visible because of chain guard 12. lThe three shafts, 7, 9, and 13, are located in front of the frame.

Located between the Skinning mechanism and the spool carrying the wire to be skinned is another horizontal Side arm 18 which carries the three idlers 19, 2O and 21. Thepurpose of the different idlers will be explained later.

On the reverse side of the frame, carried by means of sider arms 22 and 23, is a shaft 24 whose purpose is to carry spool 25 upon which the wire is to be wound. Thespool is frictionally held on this shaft by means of a Spring holding member 55 and a nut 56 threaded onto the end of the shaft. The purpose of so mounting spool 25 will also be eX- plained later. Shaft 24 also carries drive gear 26.

Directly above the shaft 24 and spool 25 yis mounted the `level-winder assembly. This assembly represented by drive pulley 27, since the rest of the mechanism is not visible, merely guides the wire as it is being wound upon spool 25 sothat the wire will be wound evenly over the length of the spool.

The operation of the complete assembly as just described, will now be explained. The driving'power may be furnished by any suitable means. In this ease, it will be assumed that a small electric motor is being used. By means of a belt around drive pulley 16 and the pulley of the motor, the shaft 13 is revolved. The revolution of shaft 13, rotates Skinning mechanism 17 in the direction indicated bythe arrow. The rotation of shaft 13 will be translated, to shaft 9 by means of driving gears, which are of equal size but which are not visible, and chain 28. Therelso fore, the gearsrand capstan attached to shaft 9 will be revolved in the same direction as shaft 13, while beth shafts will be revolved at the same rate. By means of gears 10 and 26 and chain 29, the motion of shaft 9 is translated to shaft 24. rlhus spool 25 is rotated in the same direction as skinning mechanism 17. rlhe wire from the supply spool on shaft 7 is led between Y guide pinsv 30, over one of idlers 19,` 2O or 21, over-Skinning mechanism 17, over idler 31, around capstan l1 three 0r four times, over another idler, not shown, through the level winder, and thence onto spool 25. rlhus, when the motor is started, the wire is unweund from the supply spool by the pull of capstan 11 and wound onto spool 25. Spool 25 is revolved at a faster rate than is capstan 11.v Thus the wire between these two is always taut. The spring` member 55 allows the spoel 25 to slip on the shaft 24, for as the size of roll of wire upon spool 25 increases the spoelY can not be revolved as fast since the fire is unwound from the supply spool at a uniform rate by capstan 11.

The brake arm 32 is pivoted at its extremity 33 by. a pin mounted in the frame. At its opposite extremity, the brake arm 32 has fastened to it the upright, weight-carrying rod 34. On the underside of arm 32 is fastened the brake shoe 35. This brake shoe rides upon'the surface of brake drum 36. Brake drum 36 is rigidly fastened to shaft 7. rlfhis braking arrangement performs as a drag upon the supply spool so that the wire unwound from it will always be under a strong tension.

The amount of drag desired may be secured by putting the proper weight on weight-carrying rod 34.

The construction and operation of the complete machine assembly, having been eX- plained in sufficient detail to enable one familiar in the art to understand it, the construction and operation ofthe Skinning mechanism 17 will now be explained in detail, reference being had to Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Referring particularly to Figs. 3 and 4 it will be seen that the Skinning mechanism 17 consistsprimarily of a disc 37 keyed firmly to the shaft13. Disc 37 has a flanged edge 33 in which are the openings 39. In the periphery of the flange is a deep Vgroove 40 in which runs the wire. The openings 39 in the flange 38 have been made toV receive vthe skinning blade assemblies. These assemblies consist of the blade carrying members 41 and roller carrying members 42. Members 41 and 42 are made integral with each other. The rollers 4.3 are carried vby members 42 at their extremities and the complete assemblies are each pivoted at 44. The cam 45 is provided to operate the skinning blade assemblies. The hub of cam 45 is hollow so as to receive the rounded extremity of block 46. Block 46 is made hollow so as to act as a journal for shaft 13. The extremity of block 46 is clamped in the right angled groove in side arm 15 so as to prevent it from being turned by the revolution of shaft 13. Cam 45 is held stationary by securing it firmly to block 46 by means of a set screw 54.

Now, when shaft 13 is revolved as previously explained, the disc 37 will also be revolved in the same direction, that indicated by the arrow. The cam 45 is so designed that when disc 37 revolves, the. rollers 43 will roll up its surface. Since the cam is stationary, the revolution of disc 37 will cause the cam to rotate the blade assemblies about their pivot point-s 44. This will cause the outer extremities of members 41 to be rotated about points 44 in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of disc 37. lt lis this movement which performs the Skinning operation.

The skinning operation will be better un.- derstood by understanding the construction of the Skinning blades, as will now be eX- plained, reference being had particularly to 5 and 6. Figg is a front view of blade assembly while Fig. 6 is a rear view. The blade carrying member 41 has a deep, narrow slot cut in its top side. The rear side of member 41 is beveled to receive the blades 47 and 48. Blade 47 is rigidly fastened to 41 by means of screws 49 and 53. Blade 48 is adjustable, being set and held in place by set screws 50 and rlhe beveling of 41 is such that with the blades in place, the edges of the blades will line up parallel with the sides of the deep slot but closer together than the edges of the slot so that when'wire is inserted between the two blades, it will not come in Contact with the member 41. The complete blade assembly is so mounted on disc 37 that the slot in 41 will be in exact line with deep groove in the periphery of the flange 33 on disc 37. Thus the wire running in the groove will pass between the Skinning blades 47 and 43. The blades are so spaced that when the skinning operationis performed as previously explained, the blades will skin the insulation from the wire without injuring the wire itself.

rlhe length of the skin depends upon the design of the cam, the cam being designed in this case to skin the wire for av distance of about three fourths of an inch. The adjustable backstops 52, inserted in the flange 38, allow the length of skin to be varied slightly without necessitating the use of a diiferent cam. The distance between skins on a length of wire may be varied by increasing or decreasing the number of blade assemblies on disc 37. |The number of blade assemblies on disc 37 determines which one of idlers 19, 20 or 21 shall be used. These idlers are so situated that they guide the wire, which runs in the groove of 38, in such a way that that wire will be in only one Skinning blade assembly at a time- The idler situated nearest to the frame will be used with a disc having the smallest number of blade assemblies, the next nearest with more blade assemblies, and the farthest with still more blade assemblies.

Restoring springs fastened to the reverse sides of the blade assemblies and disc 37 are used to return the assemblies to their normal position after the skinning operations have been performed. The springs are not visible in the drawings.

While I have chosen to show my invention in this one particular use, and as there areV modifications and adaptions which can be made by one skilled in the art without dep arting from the scope of the invention, I do not choose to be limited to the exact disclosure.

Having thus described my invention what I consider new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent will be pointed out in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a wire skinning machine, a drum mounted on a rotatable shaft, a plurality of rotatable knives on said drum, a stationary cam associated with said drum, means for feeding insulated wire over said drum, and means for rotating said shaft and drum for causing said cam to rotate said knives for removing the insulation from said wire at predetermined intervals.

2. In a wire skinning machine, a plurality of skinning knives having openings therein, means for. feeding insulated wire through said knives one after another, and means for moving said knives along the surface of the wire while the wire is moving to strip a section of insulation therefrom.

3. In a wire skinning machine, a plurality of skinning knives having openings therein, means for feeding insulated wire through said knives one after another, and means for moving said knives along the surface of the wire while the Wire is moving to strip a section of insulation therefrom, said last means consisting of a cam which operates said plurality of knives one after another in the manner set forth.

4. In a wire skinning machine, a rotating drum, a plurality of skinning knives on said drum and having openings therein, means for feeding insulated wire over said drum, a groove in the periphery of said drum for leading said wire through said knives, and means for operating said knives to remove strips of insulation from said wire at predetermined intervals.

5. In an apparatus for stripping a covered strand, means for drawing a strand from a supply at a substantially constant speed, means co-operating with the drawing means for severing the covering of the strand at predetermined points throughout the length thereof and moving the covering back upon the strand for a predetermined distance, andl means for operating the severing means at each of the predetermined points during the continued drawing of the strand from the supply.

6. In an apparatus for stripping a covered strand, means for severing the strand covering, means for continuously advancing the strand at a predetermined speed, and means operating at predetermined intervals during said continuous advancement to cause the first-mentioned means to engage and thereby sever the strand covering and to thereafter moverthe covering along the strand for a predetermined distance.

7 In an apparatus for stripping a covered strand, means for severing the strand covering, means for causing the strand and the severing means to advance simultaneously along a predetermined path, and means for causing the severing means to engage and thereby sever the strand covering and for thereafter causing a relative movement between, the strand and the severing means along the path to move the covering along the strand for a predetermined distance.

8. In an apparat-us for stripping a covered strand, means for severing the strand covering, means for causing the strand and the severing means to advance simultaneously along a predetermined path, and means for causing the severing means to engage and thereby sever the strand covering and for thereafter causing a relative movement between the strand and the severing means along the path to move the covering along the strand for a predetermined distance and thereafter release the severing means from the strand covering and permit the simultaneous advance of the severing means and the strand.

9. In an apparatus for stripping a covered strand, a rotatable drum, a plurality of slotted knives movably mounted on said drum, means for drawing a covered strand over said drum and rotating said drum to cause said strand to enter the slotted knives one after another to thereby sever the strand covering at predetermined intervals throughout the length of said strand, and means for operating each knife after the strand covering has been severed to strip a length of said covering from the strand.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 28th day of October, A. D.

OTTO CHARLES DUMROESE. 

